A Weekly Menu of Fast and Healthy Meals

January 27th Menu

by ksaintjohn

So, Guinness Shepherd’s Pie might be my new favorite meal. I always thought it was such a high calorie meal, however a few changes to the potatoes (low fat milk instead of cream and only 2 Tbsp. butter) and draining the fat off of the meat, really cuts it down. I made mine with lamb and it came out to around 500 calories per serving. It would be even less if you used ground turkey. I would probably skip the biscuits if you want a lower calorie meal. The recipe may look long, but I promise, it was worth it. The Guinness gave the meat so much flavor, and it required no gravy packets that most shepherd’s pie recipes call for. I highly recommend marinating the meat overnight, and doing as much prep the day before. You could actually prep the whole thing the day before or morning of, and then just throw it in the oven about 30-45 minutes before you want to eat.

The Kale Pasta Bake was like a cross between a mac and cheese, and a pasta alfredo. So delicious! You could also use spinach if you don’t like kale. This is another make ahead recipe. You could get your pasta and kale done the night before, then make your cheese sauce the day of. Then all you have to do is bake 20 minutes and you are done. Ours made so much that we actually had it for three nights. Mahi Mahi was on sale at the grocery store, so I went for a simple recipe that utilized some store bought mango salsa to give it some added flavor. You could also use blackened seasoning for some spice in lieu of the macadamia nuts and breadcrumbs.